DPRK proposes halting inter-Korean military hostilities

• DPRK has proposed the two neighbors on Korean Peninsula stop all military hostilities against each other.

• Pyongyang's latest olive branch followed its confirmation hours earlier of its second missile test recently.

• DPRK called on US not to deploy nuclear strike forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas.

PYONGYANG, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has proposed that the two neighbors on the Korean Peninsula stop all military hostilities against each other starting Friday.

The National Defense Commission of the DPRK made the surprise suggestion in a statement where it listed independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity as the three main principles for improving relations with South Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported Monday.

Pyongyang's latest olive branch followed its confirmation hours earlier of its second missile test recently. It also came on the eve of the 42th anniversary of the issuance of the July 4 North-South Joint Statement, a historic document wherein the two sides agreed on a set of principles for achieving reunification.

South Korea should stop all kinds of slander, defamation or any other mental machinations, according to the statement.

In order to create a better atmosphere for the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, the DPRK suggested, this year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercise, a U.S.-South Korean joint drill slated for August, be scrapped.

It also called on the United States not to deploy nuclear strike forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas.

The DPRK called for an end to live-fire drills and other hostile military activities near the disputed sea border in the hotspot Yellow Sea.

SEOUL/PYONGYANG, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday fired two short-range ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast early Sunday morning, the South Korean military said.

The news came just three days after Seoul reported that the DPRK fired three short-range projectiles into waters off South Korea's eastern coast at a time when tensions were running high on the Korean Peninsula.Full story

PYONGYANG, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced Friday that it has test-fired "newly developed cutting-edge ultra-precision tactical guided missiles."

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-fire at the central monitoring post, according to the official KCNA news agency, which lauded the new weapons as "another shining success" in the efforts to manufacture "high-precision, lighter, automatic and intelligent weapons and equipment."Full story

SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired short-range ballistic missiles Sunday to protest against the recent military exercise of South Korean Marine Corps in the eastern waters, a researcher at a local think tank said.Full story